The CBI arrested two men in the city, including a senior manager of a nationalised bank, on Thursday, in connection with a ₹183-crore fraud reported in Madhya Pradesh.
CBI officers said three cases were lodged involving a financial fraud over an
Indore-based company allegedly submitting forged bank guarantees worth ₹183.21 crore to the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL).
The company secured three irrigation projects worth ₹974 crore from MPJNL in 2023, the CBI said.
“To support these contracts, eight fake bank guarantees valued at ₹ 183.21 crore were submitted. During initial verification, MPJNL received fraudulent email responses impersonating the official domain of a nationalised bank falsely confirming the authenticity of the guarantees. Relying on these, MPJNL awarded three contracts, valued at over ₹ 974 crore, to the firm,” said a CBI officer.
Later, an inquiry was launched, and the CBI took over the case.
The CBI raided 23 locations in five states, including Bengal, and zeroed in on at least two people, who were arrested.
The arrested duo was identified as Govind Chandra Hansda, a senior manager of a nationalised bank, and Mohammad Firoz Khan. They were produced at a court in Calcutta and will be taken to Indore on transit remand.
“Simultaneous searches were carried out in Delhi, Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, leading to the arrests in Calcutta. The investigation has revealed that a Calcutta-based syndicate has been systematically fabricating and circulating fake bank guarantees to secure government contracts across multiple states,” a senior officer of the central agency said.